Demon Delivery Service
by ZoologyKaM
Summary: In the feudal era mail delivery was a dangerous job. A small clan of human-friendly-demons agreed to take on this task. Ryoko is one of these demons. When Kagome gives her a letter to be delivered to the Bone Eater's Well for her brother Souta to find, Ryoko accidently goes through the well. But now she can't get back. To be a comedy. SoutaxOC. On Hiatus.
1. The Demon Mailman

_Hi welcome to my second Inuyasha fan fic. Sorry didn't finish the first one I hit a road block. Check it out if you want. This one will be shorter. I think... Enjoy!_

_Setting occurs during the early Inuyasha series._

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**Chapter 1 – The Demon Mailman**

The townspeople stared at the young girl as she sniffed the ground. Her hair was as silver as an old man's but she looked to be no more than 10 years of age. She was dressed in a short blue kimono with white trim and a dark blue sash. The bottom of the kimono didn't even reach her knees. On her back she carried a weapon as long as her body. It looked like it could be a sword but it seemed like it was much too large; certainly too large for a girl her size to handle. _She must be a demon_, some whispered as she went about her business.

The girl went up to on shopkeeper and asked a few questions, about the nearby land, as well as if a Monk had passed by within the last few days. She had his scent already but she wanted to double check. No point wasting a day of travel. The few humans she asked confirmed the trail. Less than a day had passed since her target had passed by. The target was moving slowly. Humans always tend to travel slowly. That's good though because it makes her job easier. Running top speed she'd find him in 2 to 3 hours.

"Well I'd better get started then." The girl took off her bandana from her head to readjust it. The villagers were terrified to see two furry animal ears growing from her head. She put her headband back on completely ignoring the human's gasps of worry. She checked that her over-the-shoulder bag was fastened tightly so it wouldn't drop any of the precious letters it carried. Once she was certain, she dashed off full speed, leaving a cloud of smoke in the stunned villager's faces.

"Come on!" Inuyasha whined. "We've only been traveling for a few weeks and you already want to go home?"

"My family will start to worry if I don't come home once in a while, you know. It's not like I can just call them on the phone or anything." Kagome just walked her bike along. She was used to hearing these complaints. Every single time she wanted to go home. It didn't matter how long they had been traveling for.

While the two of them continued arguing Miroku and Sango walked further back. They were tired of hearing this discussion every time. Shippo rode along on Miroku's shoulder while Kirara sat on Sango's head.

_This day couldn't get any more boring._ Shippo thought. He jumped to the ground to stretch his legs for a while. As he did so, he looked back along the road they had been traveling on. "Is that a tornado?"

"Huh?" The rest of the group looked back.

"Look at the way it's moving though." Sango pointed out, "It's following the road."

"Oh great…" Inuyasha huffed, "That's not the mangey wolf again is it?" He stuck his hands in his sleeves as he stared at the cloud.

"Can't be." Kagome said shaking her head. "I don't sense any jewel shards."

"Well then what is it?" Shippo asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," Miroku pointed down the road, "it's getting closer."

And indeed it was. Shippo had first spotted the cloud while it was still several miles away, but it wasn't long before it caught up to them. They were completely swallowed by dust as the demon girl skidded to a halt in front of them. The group looked at her thoroughly confused as she walked up to each of them and sniffed them.

Just after she sniffed Miroku she smiled and turned to reach into her bag. "Your name is Miroku right? The monk with the wind tunnel?"

Miroku's eyes narrowed. "Yes and who are you?"

"Careful Miroku she's a demon." Inuyasha said as he stood off to the side. He looked generally disinterested but he still didn't drop his guard.

The girl totally ignored Inuyasha's comment. "I'm Ryoko of the Haitatsu Demon clan."

"Haitatsu? Like Delivery?" Kagome raised an eyebrow and walked over to see what the girl was doing. The bag she was carrying was full to the brim with scrolls and letters. She seemed to find what she was looking for and pulled out a small envelope.

"Eleven days, six hours and 27 minutes have passed since recieval of this letter. Sent from one: Monk Mushin, Human, Drunkard, Spiritual powers minimal." She looked up into Miroku's eyes. "Do you know this name?"

Miroku brought his head to his hand and sighed. "Yes I know him."

"Sheesh even random demons can tell he's a useless drunk." Inuyasha muttered. Kagome elbowed him.

"Sign here please." Ryoko held out a slip of paper and a brush and ink. Miroku signed his name.

"What is this about?" Miroku asked as the girl tucked the signature away in her bag.

"Delivery. This letter is from customer Mushin. If you had listened to what I said before. It was entrusted to me for delivery. You are indeed Miroku of the Kazaana." She handed the letter over to him.

"Wow. I didn't know there was mail in the feudal era." Kagome said sounding impressed.

"Yes well our clan is small." Ryoko said digging through her bag once again as Miroku read the letter. Everyone was silent until he finished.

"Well what's it say?" Inuyasha asked.

Miroku looked up at the others. "It appears he has something he acquired reciently that he thinks we could use. He didn't say what it is though. I suppose that would mean it's something he doesn't want others to find out about."

"Should we go there and find out what it is?" Sango asked. Kirara purred on her head looking at the letter.

"I suppose we might as well. It's not like…" Miroku was cut off as Ryoko cleared her throat.

"If I may interrupt? There is still the matter of payment for delivery. Customer Mushin said that you would take care of the payment." She held up a scroll with a list of numbers. "For an eleven day distance this is what it costs."

Miroku nearly dropped the letter when he saw the numbers. "HE WHAT!? Said I would cover it!? Oh we're definitely going there now." Miroku fumed as he pulled out his coin purse.

"Well since you're going there I won't ask about a return letter." She packed up the payment and looked around at the rest of the group. "Was anyone else looking to send a message to anyone? We give a good rate to first time senders if they pay up front."

"Oh!" Kagome dropped her book bag off her back and turned around to pull out a paper and pen. "Can I get a letter delivered to my brother?"

"Sure." Ryoko walked over next to Kagome and pulled out her own notebook. "What's your name?"

"But Kagome," Shippo interjected, "isn't your brother on the other side of the well? How could she deliver it?" Ryoko looked back between the two of them not really sure what they meant.

"If she drops it into the well it might just go through. I know my brother checks the well every morning before he goes to school. The little dweeb has nothing better to do."

"Name please?"

"Oh right. Higorashi Kagome."

Ryoko wrote down in her notes. "And the name of the one this is to be delivered to?"

"Well actually there's a well by a village that you can drop it into…."

Ryoko stopped her notes and looked at Kagome with a stern face, "Sorry no. All deliveries must have a human or demon recipient."

"Oh. Then it would be my brother Souta, I guess."

"Do you have a location for the delivery? Or does Master Souta travel?"

"Yes." Kagome explained how to get to the village and where to find the well. "You can just drop it into the well. He'll find it eventually."

"Sorry but all letters are to be put into the recipients hands. Don't worry. I'll make sure it gets to him," she added. She misinterpreted Kagome's worried look, thinking she feared the letter would not be delivered rather than concern the demon wasn't understanding about the well.

_Oh well_, Kagome shrugged. _When she gets annoyed she'll just drop the letter into the well and that's that._ "So how much do I owe you?" Kagome asked as she watched Ryoko tuck the letter away.

"You said it's a 2 week travel to get to the town? For a first time sender that will be three bronze strings." That was just more than Miroku had paid for his letter. He was the one that held the group's money. He nearly cried as Kagome glanced over at him.

"You do realize that this means we'll be broke." He said as he handed over the money.

"Why does it matter?" Sango asked. "You can just find another rich household to con."

"You guys make me sound like a bad guy." The group laughed as Miroku said this.

Finished tucking the letter and the payment safely in her back Ryoko turned to Kagome. "Thank you for your business. You can expect to see me again after the delivery though I can't garentee when since I have other deliveries to make. This is so that you can confirm the recipient's signature." Kagome nodded assuming they wouldn't see the young demon ever again since the letter couldn't be hand delivered. Ryoko smiled at her, turned around and ran off leaving a dust cloud in her wake.


	2. Down The Well and Not Back Again

**Chapter 2 – Down the Well, but Not Back Again**

Ryoko passed through several towns and made a couple deliveries before she found herself close to the village where Priestess Kagome wanted the letter delivered. She slowed down as she entered the town. The men were all off in the fields. There were women and a few children going about their own business. A few houses down there was an old woman wearing a priestess robe.

"Excuse me." Ryoko called out to the woman.

Kaede turned around to face the young girl. "A stranger coming to this town? What can I do for a passing demon?"

Ryoko smiled. "Pretty good if you could sense I was a demon just like that. Don't worry I don't hurt humans. I'm actually looking for a place called the Bone-eater's Well. My scent trail seems to have gone cold. I was hoping you could help me out."

Kaede looked surprised. "For what reason do ye seek the well?"

"Haitatsu Clan business for a client. I'm sure a priestess of your years would know of us."

"Oh aye. I do know of you. But who has asked you to seek the well?"

"That is no business of yours priestess. Now will you assist me or shall I ask elsewhere?"

Kaede sighed and gave in. The Haitatsu clan was known for getting their job done by whatever means, and she didn't care to get the village more involved than necessary. She pointed out the direction of the well; glad to see the demon leave.

Ryoko headed off. Humans were never helpful when they knew she was a demon. Then again Humans are in general useless. It was unfortunate that much of her clan's time was spent running back and forth between humans. At least there were some demons that used their services. It made things more interesting.

Coming out into a clearing, she could see an old well in the middle of a field. _This must be it._ She walked over and looked in. It was a dry well. Priestess Kagome had said to just drop it in but that was not how things were done in the Haitatsu clan. Ryoko decided to wait around to see if Kagome's brother would show up.

After a few hours passed she decided he wasn't coming. She pulled out the letter and stared at it for a bit. _I can't just leave it here._ A gust of wind snatched the letter from her hand. It fell down into the well.

"Dammit…" She jumped into the well after it, feeling very glad the well was dry. While reaching down to pick up the letter a strange sensation overtook her. It was like falling, but it was over in a few seconds. "Well that was weird."

It only took one leap for Ryoko to jump out of the well. _Why's it dark?_ She found herself inside a small building; wooden walls and a ceiling that wasn't there when she had jumped into the well. _Was that some sort of ninja passage? _Light was shining in through the door. No point in just sitting in here.

She walked outside and picked up the scent again. Kagome's scent was old but she must pass through this way often. The scent went up a pathway to a large strage looking building, larger than any mansion Ryoko had ever seen.. It was all white with strange windows that seemed to have some sort of barrier over them. She stood in shock staring at it for a moment.

"Gah. The letter." It was still in the well. Ryoko swore as she turned back and returned to the shed. She jumped back down into the well picked up the letter and jumped back out, coming up into the shack again. She went back up the walk way to the mansion and slid the door open. She followed the sent down the hall and up some stairs.

Kagome's scent was strongest in one room but there were 3 other rooms. All smelled like humans, one old man, one middle-aged woman, and a young boy. She said the letter was for her brother so that boy must be Souta. It was safe to assume the older two were Kagome's mom and grandfather.

"AAHH."

Ryoko turned around to find a human boy sitting on his butt in the hallway. Souta had stumbled backwards after seeing a strange person in his room.

"Who are you!" Souta stammered.

_He's easily scared isn't he…_ Ryoko walked closer to get a better smell. That's the same scent as the room. "Are you Souta? Kagome's brother?"

Souta looked less scared and more surprised. "You know my sister?"

_So it is him._ Ryoko thought and started digging through her bag. "I have a letter from Higurashi Kagome to Higurashi Souta. Sign here please." She handed him a scroll brush and ink. Souta stared at the ink not really sure what to do with it. Ryoko sighed. "You know how to sign your name right?"

"Well yeah but not with a brush. Hang on." Souta dug through his backpack and pulled out a pen. Ryoko was interested in where the thin brush got its ink from but didn't care to stay too long around the scaredy-cat-human-boy. He signed the receipt and gave it back.

"Delivery was pre-paid so you don't have to worry about that." Ryoko said, tucking the paper away and handing over the letter. "You can send a return letter if you would like."

Souta read the letter. "This says sis won't be home for a month."

"What it says is really none of my business. Do you wish to send a reply?"

Souta looked up at the girl. "Did my sister give this to you in the past?"

Ryoko pulled out her note book. "Letter was received for delivery exactly 4 days and 3 hours ago. Distance traveled equaled 2 weeks at human walking speed." Souta looked confused. That wasn't exactly what he meant.

_Is she from the feudal era?_ He might as well ask. But then again… Inuyasha didn't know what the 'feudal era' was so this girl might not either. "Was Inuyasha there when she gave you this?" The girl looked surprised by his question.

"The half demon? Yes. Why?"

"Did you come through the well to get here?"

"Is there any other way to get to here? If there is Priestess Kagome didn't tell me."

"Are you going back through the well?"

Ryoko was getting annoyed with all these questions. "I will as soon as you decide whether you're sending a return letter or not. Which it doesn't seem like you're planning to do." She stuck her notebook, brush and ink back in her bag. "Now if you'll excuse me."

She left through the front door, Mrs. Higurashi noticed her leave from down the hall and followed Souta out to see what was going on. Grandpa Higurashi came around the corner of the house carrying a box but stopped to stare at them as Souta and his mom followed Ryoko to the well. He followed also when Souta explained what was going on.

_Sheesh. Why are they following me? _Ryoko assumed they must be worried she doesn't know how to work the ninja passage. _The tunnel isn't that hard to figure out. You jump in then go to that spot where you fall down a bit then jump back up and out. _

Souta hurried in to the shed with the dry well, just in time to see Ryoko jump in. He stood there and stared at it for a moment, then a few seconds later Ryoko jumped back out. She blinked as she stared at Souta. Souta watched as she turned around and tried again, emerging the same as the first time.

"Well that's odd. Hey Higurashi Souta, how does this ninja passage work?"

"Ninja passage?"

"The well, stupid!" _Boy are humans dumb…_ Ryoko thought as she turned around and tried for a third time. Each time she just didn't feel that falling sensation like she had the first time. There must be a switch to hit or something. She searched around on the bottom of the well for a bit until Souta leaned over to look at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Trying to find the way back to the meadow. You know you could save me the trouble and tell me how this works."

"I don't know how it works. Only my sister and Inuyasha can pass through the well."

Ryoko scrunched her brows together and looked up at him. "Clearly that's not true," she yelled up. "Afterall I came through. Now quit messing around and tell me how to get back."

"Is everything ok Souta?" His mom came down the stairs to the well.

Souta shook his head. "I think she's from the past, but the well isn't letting her back through." Ryoko jumped back up and landed on the edge of the well facing them.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled at her. "Why don't we go inside and talk for a bit?" she said. Ryoko didn't feel like talking to the humans but they knew more about the well than she did, and she didn't have time to be stuck here. She still had deliveries to make.


	3. Realizations

_A/N: Hey guys! Chapters will be slower on this than my other stories simply __**because of my other stories**__. Check them out if you're interested! _

_Invader Zim Parodies now availible! Find them through my Profile!_

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**Chapter 3 – Realizations**

Souta sprinted out of the house chasing after Ryoko. While he and his mom were explaining about the well, Grandpa had blurted out that she might not even be able to get back. She had panicked and run out of the house. He found her at the bottom of the steps that lead to the shrine from the street.

Ryoko was sniffing around at the ground by the time Souta got down the stairs. "What are you doing?" He asked trying to catch his breath. Kagome told Souta to never let Inuyasha out of his sight, so he assumed that rule applied to this girl as well. She had told them she was a demon, though she didn't say what kind.

Ryoko stood up and sniffed the air for a bit. Her face looked confused and a bit scared. "I can't smell a single demon… nothing but humans… That's not possible…" She ran her fingers through her short silver hair. Souta looked at her, thinking how similar she was to Inuyasha but still she was really different to. _Do all demons have animal ears?_ He wondered noticing how her ears came off the side of her head like where a human's ears would be, rather than the top like Inuyasha's.

Souta was shocked out of his thoughts when Ryoko whirled around and got right up in his face. She stared him in the eyes. Souta was leaning back trying to get more than 2 inches between their faces. Ryoko stared into his eyes. She sighed and stepped back.

"This isn't a joke is it…" she asked looking a bit dejected. "Great… stuck in a world run by humans… just my luck.

Souta tried to ignore that last comment. He wasn't really sure what to do. He could tell she was trying to stay calm but if he were in her shoes he didn't think he could do the same. He wasn't even sure how his sister managed it. His Sister!

Ryoko stared up after Souta as he ran back up the stairs to the shrine. She glanced around for a bit, wondering if her clan was still around, then noticed some humans whispering and pointing at her. _This world is too different. _Humans didn't even know what a demon was so if she was found out it would probably cause mass panic. _Why are humans so…_ She shook her head, sighed and headed back to the shrine.

When she got back to the house Mrs. Higurashi was at the door waiting. "Souta ran up into his room. If you can't figure out a way back we can wait for Kagome to return. You can stay in her room until she does." Mrs. Higurashi led them upstairs and started cleaning Kagome's room while Ryoko went down the hall to find Souta. She didn't like relying on humans but she really didn't know where else to go.

Ryoko poked her head in to see Souta tearing through his closet. "What are you looking for?"

Still digging through boxes Souta said, "The sacred arrow my sister left me."

"Sacred arrow?"

"Well you said you came through when you jumped down for the letter. Maybe it's because they letter was from my sister who can go through the well. The arrow she gave me was one she brought from the past. Maybe it will get you back through."

Ryoko shrugged. "I suppose it's worth a try." She came in and started helping to search the room. A raised wooden bed, a shelf of neatly bound books, tall wardrobe full of strange clothing; this human's room was full of many strange things.

Souta wasn't finding it and the quiet in the room was getting awkward, so he grabbed the remote control for his CD player and press the on button. The music blared to life and was silenced a second later, with Ryoko's hand punched straight through the plastic casing. Souta just stared in shock.

"What'd you do that for!?" He got up and ran over to his lifeless radio. Ryoko was standing back against the bed leaning away from the broken mess.

"What was that?"

"What's what?"

"That thing I just touched…"

"That was more than a touch... " He scoffed angrily as he gathered up the pieces into a pile. Ryoko didn't move from where she was. Souta rolled his eyes… _Just because she didn't know what it was didn't mean she had to smash it._ When Kagome had showed Inuyasha a radio he had just shook it and asked if there were souls trapped inside it. "It was just a radio, nothing dangerous; tough I can't say the same about you."

Ryoko put her hands on her hips pouting. "Fast reactions keep you alive longer. Unlike you weak humans that stumble back and fall on their butts, demons are much more adapted to stay alive."

"Maybe in the past you are…" Souta mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Souta was just a little ticked off. He had been trying to help her and she completely destroyed his radio/CDplayer/AlarmClock in one fatal punch! Not to mention she had been acting all high and mighty. "It means that you can't go around thinking you're better than humans anymore!" He yelled at her.

Souta never yells. This was made extremely evident by the shocked look on 's face as she stood there in the doorway, watching Ryoko and Souta stare each other down. She smiled thinking about how similar her children are.


	4. Bread, 100 Yen!

_**A/N: **__Hey guys! There's been more interest shown in this story than my other Inuyasha fic. I'll try to work on it but with mid-terms comming up and my work on my IZ stories, chapters may be a little slow. I hope you'll all continue along with me as we see where Ryoko and Souta are headed!_

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**Chapter 4 - Bread, 100 yen!**

Ryoko sat up on the roof watching the sky as it turned from twilight to day. This was a fine mess she'd gotten herself into. More commissions than she could already handle, and no way to get home to deliver them. If this was due to her bad Karma then she really wished she could point out to the world that demons almost never had good karma, and those puppies had gotten what was coming to them.

Her ears twitched when she heard the door of the house slide open. Looking down she saw Souta running down the path to the street. _Now where is he going this early in the morning_ she wondered.

Souta made his way down the stairs. His friend Kenta was there waiting as always. "Hey. You're late. I was about to leave without you." Kenta said snickering at his friend. He said this to Souta every morning but for once it was actually true.

"Had a rough night." Souta explained. The two of them started walking towards the school. Kenta was telling a story of how his dog got its head stuck in a tree last night when their friend Ayaka met up with them.

"You guys are late. That's unusual." She stated.

"Souta, here, slept in." Kenta joked.

"Sorry guys. Had a weird night."

Ayaka looked over at him surprised. "Oh, yeah? How so?"

"We kinda got an unexpected guest at the shrine; it made things a little crazy."

"What kind of guest?" Kenta asked. He asked more out of boredom than curiosity.

"A weird girl about our age. She smashed my alarm clock…"

"Hahaha! So that's why you were late!" Kenta laughed at his friend. Ayaka chuckled also. "So is she a run-away or something? Your shrine doing some sort of charity by taking her in?"

Souta shook his head. "Nah, she's a friend of my sister. It's hard to explain but she can't go home right now."

"While it's true I can't go home, I would hardly call her and I friends." Souta jumped at the new voice right behind him. So did his friends.

"Holy crap! Where'd you come from?" Kenta blurted out.

Ryoko just looked at the human with an 'isn't it obvious' sort of look. "I've been here for a while. You guys just didn't notice. You should work on that by the way; I could have easily killed you all and you never would have known."

"Killed us…?"

"Ahhh… Ahahaha… such a kidder…" Souta quickly pulled Ryoko to the side. "You can't just say stuff like that!" He whispered. "People will think you're dangerous."

"Well should they not think that? I wasn't lying when I said I could have killed you all."

"That's not the point! You just can't say stuff like that."

Ryoko sighed. She could see that Souta was getting angry again. _I mean really… I break that redyo thing and he gets so huffy._ "Fine fine," she said loudly. Kenta and Ayaka looked back at her nervously.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Souta asked.

"I followed you."

"I could've guessed that, but why?"

"I was bored." Ryoko's face asked 'what other reason would there be'. She nonchalantly put her hands up behind her head and walked around past Souta and his friends, heading up the street.

"Oy! Matte!" Souta ran to catch up with her. Kenta and Ayaka exchanged a glance before following.

"So what's your name?" Ayaka asked.

"Ryoko."

"I'm Ayaka and this is Kenta. Yoroshiku"

"Mm." Ryoko nodded half ignoring the human. Souta wasn't happy about having her tag along. It was bad enough that she knew nothing about this time period, but to top it off she was being rude to his friends. It wasn't like he could stop her though. He looked up at the demon confused as she stopped and glanced around. To his horror she turned and started walking into the street.

"Oy!" Kenta reached out trying to grab her as a car was headed her way. What happened next was so fast that none of them really saw it, but it ended with Kenta and Ryoko on the other side of the street in less than a second.

"Oh my god!" Ayaka screamed. Kenta was slumped on the ground still gripping Ryoko's wrist.

"What… the…" He stuttered. Ryoko noticed he was hold her and peeled his hand off. Then she walked over to the bake shop across the street.

"I'll take this one, please." She grabbed a large loaf of fresh bread. The woman at the store nodded and told her that would be 100yen. Ryoko blinked, "What's yen?"

"Hey!" Souta yelled as he and Ayaka ran up the street. "What the heck was that?" He asked accusingly while Ayaka knelt down to check on Kenta.

"What? I was hungry and I smelled this bread shop so I thought I would buy some."

Souta was a little confused by this response. "Demons have money?" He asked stupidly.

"Of course I do!" Ryoko said with an indignant growl. "Not all demons are just steal stuff, you know!" She pulled out her string of coins to show him. Then she stared at it herself before looking back at the shop. "By the way, what is yen?"

"Huh?"

"Yen! This obaa-san said that it was 100 yen. How many bronze pieces is that?" Souta looked down at the string Ryoko was holding. They were all old coins. Which made sense when he thought about it. He shook off the thought and just went and paid for her bread. Once she was happily munching on hit he went over to see how Kenta was doing.

He was just getting over the shock of flying across the street. "How did that even happen?" he asked. "Did I black out or something?" He scratched his head. Souta reached out and helped him up.

"Not sure," Souta smiled awkwardly at his friends trying to avoid telling them that Ryoko was a demon. "We should get going. We're gonna be late."

Kenta nodded. "Race ya there?" he smirked. Ayaka thought this was a fun idea and they all took off running down the sidewalk. Ryoko turned to stare at them, the bread half gone hanging from her mouth. It only took two steps before she caught up with them.

When they finally reached the school the bell was just starting to ring. Ayaka and Kenta ran inside but Souta stopped and turned to Ryoko. "You can't come in with me. Go home." He felt like he was talking to a curious cat. Ryoko cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? What is this place?"

"It's school. I'll be here for a few hours so you should go home." The bell rang again. "Gah!" He turned around and ran towards the doors. "Go Home!" he yelled over his shoulder before disappearing into the building.

Ryoko stood there for a moment and looked around. Slowly she turned around and jumped high into the air. She looked all around as she remained suspended in the sky_. This is a strange world_ she thought; b_ut no point in not learning about it while I'm here. _ She landed on the roof of the school building and settled down to wait until Souta's classes were done.


	5. Baseball & Karate

**_A/N: _**_Thanks for the patience with these chapters. I've noticed that it's a bit harder to write a romance/friendship than it is to write an adventure type story. Also I've been busy with school and other stories._

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**Chapter 5 – Baseball & Karate**

It was time for gym class and the boys were playing baseball today. Kenta came back to the bench bragging after he got a home run. He pressed his fist down onto Souta's head once he realized his friend was spacing out.

"Man what's up with you today? First you fall asleep in math class now you're spacing out in PE."

Souta swatted at Kenta's hand. "I'm just tired ok. Like I said I had a rough night."

"Cause of your girlfriend?"

Souta's face turned red. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"Ahaha… warui. It's just that you two kind of sounded like my older brother and his girlfriend. They're so annoying sometimes."

"Well maybe if you didn't spy on them."

"Ahaha I wouldn't call it spying." Kenta laughed. He sat down next to Souta.

"Then what would you call it?" Souta asked raising an eyebrow at his friend.

Kenta looked up as he thought about it. "Extra lunch money probably." He smirked, "My brother doesn't want our parents to know they constantly sit in his room and make-out. I walk by the room and count the number of times and he pays me to keep my mouth shut."

"What? You would seriously do that to your brother?"

"Hahaha. It's not that bad. He's got a job and if he doesn't want to pay me off one day he pretty much just puts me in a headlock until I give in."

"Boys are so weird." Ayaka came up behind them.

"Hey Aya." Kenta turned halfway back on his seat. "Girls done running laps?"

Ayaka shrugged. "For now anyways. I think we're starting something else soon though."

"Higurashi you're up!" The teacher yelled over to the bench. Souta jumped up and ran out to the batter's box. He hated sports. He was never good at them like Kenta. This was gonna be the same as every other time. He'd either get three strikes or the pitcher would accidently hit him with the baseball.

First pitch, he swung early and missed. Second pitch went low and he missed again. Third pitch he hit but it went extreme right to a foul ball.

"Come on Souta! You got this!" Kenta and Ayaka were cheering from the sidelines.

Souta gripped the bat and got ready. The pitcher took his stance, drew back, and released. Souta closed his eyes and swung with all his strength. The bat made solid contact….with something other than the ball. It snapped in half and Souta felt the splinters hit his face. He opened his eyes after he heard a collective gasp from his class.

Ryoko stood with wood shards clinging to her clothing and the baseball in her hand. Everyone was staring at her in complete shock. The teacher was the first to shake it off and ran over.

"Is everyone ok?" His eyes were on the shattered bat in Souta's hands.

Ryoko stared at the ball for a second then turned and tossed it to the teacher. "Fine. That ball was going to hit him in the face." The teacher inched closer and looked her over.

"But you got hit by the bat…"

"Your point?"

"Aaahaha! Sensei! I'll take her to the nurses office." Souta grabbed Ryoko and ran as fast as he could. Before they got clear of the field Souta heard people begin questioning the identity of Ryoko as a student. Souta didn't stop running until he had rounded the corner of the gym building. Ryoko hadn't even tried to stop him but getting dragged behind him she had to ask.

"Why are we running?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHY!? What the hell was that!?"

"You could show some gratitude. I did just prevent your weak human body from getting a swollen eye."

"That's not the point!" Souta was furious. "You could've gotten hurt!"

"With that weak swing of yours? I don't think so."

Souta's face flushed red. He wasn't sure if he was embarrassed at being called weak or angry that she didn't listen. "Either way you can't just do stuff like that!"

"You keep saying that but you haven't said why, yet."

"Because people don't believe in demons!"

"So I can't be what I am because they don't think I exist?" Ryoko said this with a mocking tone causing Souta's face to flush even brighter.

"Whatever! Just go home!" Souta turned and ran back to his class, his face like a tomato.

Ryoko watched him go thinking that he looked really funny with his face all red like that. She didn't detect Kagome's scent so there was no reason to go back to the shrine, so she decided to explore the school. _What he doesn't know won't kill him._

At the end of the school day, Souta packed up his bag and switched out his shoes as fast as he could. He wanted to make sure Ryoko had actually gone home this time. As he was walking to the front gate he noticed a crowd of students over by the gym building. He was going to just ignore it, but then he heard some senpai say something about a girl in a yukata taking out the Karate Club. Souta sighed and slowly made his way to the gym, no doubt to who he would find.

"Wow she's amazing!" "Did you see that?"

There were so many students cramming the doorway that Souta couldn't get into the gym. He tried shoving his way through the crowd twice and failed both times.

"Souta!" Souta turned to find Kenta waving him over. When he got closer, his friend held up a key with a sneaky look on his face, "I lifted this from one of the teachers. It's for the gym's service door. Let's go see what's going on." Souta didn't like Kenta's methods but he didn't complain.

Today was one of those days where the Karate Club from a nearby High School came to help the Primary School Karate Club train. All the primary students were sitting by the wall; a few of them looked to be nursing a wound or two. The high schoolers were lined up going one on one with the young girl that was the source of the commotion.

The current opponent, a tall brawny guy with short brown here, started off by throwing a few quick jabs. Ryoko easily dodged or blocked these. The guy attempted a roundhouse kick which Ryoko blocked with her knee. The way the fight was going it seemed as if the older student was wearing her down, but none of her moves here sloppy. A simple shift of her opponent's weight told her that he was going to feign a hook followed with an uppercut. She prepared to block.

"Hey, Ryoko!" Kenta yelled out and waved. Ryoko took the uppercut hard in the chin and she stumbled back. The older student was so shocked that he actually got a hit that he failed to try and finish.

Kenta held his hand over his mouth, "Oops. Was that my fault?"

Ryoko took the chance that the older student had missed and knocked him down, ending the fight. The student acting as referee declared her the winner then turned to ask if she was ok. She was already halfway over to Souta and Kenta. Souta half-expected her to look angry that they'd distracted her, but she didn't. She was smiling.

"Hello." She went over to the drinking fountain on the wall behind them.

"Sorry if I distracted you." Kenta said, he was laughing but he actually did feel bad.

Ryoko took a drink then turned around. "Oh that's fine. His punch wasn't that strong anyway. But hey isn't this wonderful? I didn't know human's fought for sport. Granted they're not that strong but after this 26th round even I'm getting a little tired."

"You've fought 26 rounds?" Souta asked, surprised.

Ryoko nodded. "Well that's not counting the kids your age. I fought a few of them before the older humans realized I was worth fighting." She looked over at the students. The High School Karate Club Captain had assigned them to work in pairs again.

"Well anyway, I'm headed home how." Souta told her. "Are you coming?"

"Okay. Just a sec." Souta watched as Ryoko jogged over to the High School Captain, talked with him for a minute then came back. "What was that about?"

"I was just asking when would be the next time they would come by to spar with me." She smiled as she waved goodbye.

_She's actually kind of cute when she smiles,_ Souta thought to himself. _Does she really like fighting that much?_ Ryoko was in a better mood on the way home than she had been since he met her. He figured it wouldn't hurt to let her tag along more often, just as long as she didn't stop any more baseball bats.


	6. Grocery Shopping

_**A/N: **__Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter took so long to put out. I knew what I wanted to have happen in it but I was having trouble writing it. Hey if there are any adventures you would like to see Ryoko and Souta go on send me a PM or leave a review (reviews are spoilers though). I'd love some ideas because this is the first romance I've written. So ideas would be appreciated. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Grocery Shopping**

The sun was just beginning to peak over the strange human city. Ryoko sat on the roof of the shrine staring off at the increasing light. Three days had passed since she had become trapped in this other world. The first day following Souta had been fun, and a learning experience.

_Things are so different in this world. _ After that first day, Ryoko had taken to wandering random streets and just observing the humans. Half of her did it in the small hope that she could pick up the scent of another demon, she clung to the hope that she would get back to her world, but another small part of her kept bring back the question, w_hat if I never get home?_

The young demon let out a sigh.

"Ryoko-chan are you up there?" Mrs. Higurashi called up from the ground. Ryoko leaned over the edge of the roof to look at her.

"Yeah. Do you need me for something?"

Mrs. Higurashi smiled up at her. "I was hoping you could go with Souta to run some errands for me. Why don't you come down and help me get breakfast ready?"

Ryoko shrugged and jumped down. She followed Mrs. Higurashi into the house and down the hall. They went into the kitchen; Souta was snoozing on the table.

"It seems like he hasn't been sleeping well and I'd worry if he went by himself. I can't go because I have to go with grandpa to the doctors," Mrs. Higurashi explained as she pulled stuff out of the fridge to make breakfast.

"He isn't going to school today?" Every day so far, Souta had gone off to his school to learn stuff, so Ryoko was a little confused. Mrs. Higurashi shook her head and explained that there wasn't school on Saturdays.

Souta slept on the table until his breakfast plate was set in front of him. He looked up at the burnt mess and wrinkled his nose. "What is this? It looks awful…"

"If you don't like it then don't eat!" Ryoko snapped. "I've never used a fire like this to cook. I can't help it if it got a little burnt."

"A little burnt? It looks like a piece of charcoal on my plate." After saying this, Souta noticed Ryoko tense up a bit. She didn't say anything in retaliation. He turned hearing his mom's light laughing from behind him. She was scooping out bowls of rice for everyone.

"You won't know how it tastes until you try it," she told him.

Souta grimaced, knowing she was right. Slowly he brought the food to his mouth. It was burnt but it didn't taste as terrible as he thought it would. "It's not bad I guess." Ryoko still didn't respond but he thought he saw her shoulders relax a bit.

As they were eating, Mrs. Higurashi gave Souta the shopping list.

"It's not too much but it's more than one person could easily carry."

"More than one human you mean." Ryoko corrected her without thinking.

"Sheesh you're still all high and mighty about demons?" Souta glared down at the piece of toast he was buttering.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't be?"

"Yeah, because it's annoying," Souta said before taking a  
bite of his toast.

Ryoko raised an eyebrow at him, "That's not much of a reason," she told him. "Besides, you keep telling me that humans are better than demons, so why can't I say that demons are better than humans?"

Souta stared at her with his chopsticks in his mouth. He couldn't think of an answer for that and his face started to turn red. In order to get away from the question he scarfed down the rest of his food, cleaned up his place and excused himself form the table. "I'll get ready to go." He didn't wait for an answer before hurrying out of the kitchen. Ryoko didn't really understand why Mrs. Higurashi was laughing as the woman watched her son leave.

* * *

"Here." Souta handed Ryoko half of a torn list. "Find this stuff and meet me back up front. Can you handle that?

Ryoko snatched the list out of his hand. "Do not treat me like a child." She stared at the list for a moment. "What is paprika?"

Souta stepped over to look at the list. There were several spices on it that his mom used for cooking. He looked back at his own list, it had eggs, milk, cereal and flour. "Here trade me lists. These should be easier to find." They switched lists and went off in separate directions.

Ryoko walked down the aisles. Eggs she found easily, chicken scent, easy to find. Milk was the same. Flour she asked a human for help from a human. When she found the bags there was a strange scent on the white powered but she assumed it was just something that came with this strange new world.

She stared for a moment at the last item on the list. _What the heck is a Cheerios?_ She stared the paper in her hand. She looked around at the humans in the aisle around her. She had already been forced to ask for help with the flour and didn't really want to do that again. Especially when she wasn't even sure she was reading the scribbled word correctly. In the end she decided to head up to the front of the store.

The front of the store was a mass of chaos, human women pushing against each other to get to the sale items. Ryoko tried looking around for Souta but couldn't see over the heads of the crowd. After one overzealous woman bumped into her and nearly caused her to drop the carton of eggs, Ryoko decided to try another way to find Souta. She held her groceries tight and jumped up, landing on top of one of the aisle shelves. She scanned around the multitude for Souta, spotting him on the opposite side of the throng of women.

"Souta!" She called out, waving her hand to get his attention. He saw her; so did most of the other humans in the crowd.

"Oh my god! What's she doing up there!?"

"Get down! You'll hurt yourself!"

Ryoko looked down at the humans yelling at her unsure what to do. She saw Souta trying to push his way through the crowd over to her. The humans were making her nervous so she decided to go over by him rather than waiting. A collective gasp went through the crowd as she jumped over half the crowd and landed softly next to the young boy.

Souta didn't look any happier to see her than the rest of the humans.

"What the heck were you doing?!"

"I was trying to find you. Why are you mad?"

"Why? Becau…" Souta's words got cut off as the crowd started pushing against them trying to figure out who the strange girl in the kimono was. "Crap!" Souta swore. A_t this rate we'll be trampled,_ Souta grabbed Ryoko by the hand and hurried toward the door.

They managed to slip out and get away from the onlookers. Souta leaned against the side wall of a shop they'd stopped by down the street, trying to catch his breath. In the chaos they had to leave behind the groceries. They couldn't go back to that store. He stared at the ground thinking about where the next nearest grocery store was; probably the one in the other direction from the shrine.

"hey… I'm sorry…"

Souta looked up to see Ryoko staring off down the street looking depressed. He sighed and stepped away from the wall, stretching his arms over his head.

"Forget it. We can't do anything about it now. There's another store near home. We'll just have to go there. I'll ask Mom about getting you something to wear that doesn't make you stick out so much when we get back."

Ryoko nodded. Souta began to walk away but Ryoko didn't follow. Turning back to look at the demon he was shocked to see she was shaking. _Did that scare her?_

"Are you ok?"

Ryoko didn't respond.

He was about to start walking again when he heard her mumble something.

"There were never this many humans so close together before… I couldn't even move…" She closed her eyes tight pushing away the memory; her hands clenched into tight fists. That had been terrifying… A mob of humans was really strong. If Souta hadn't been there…

A hand wrapped around her wrist and started pulling her away. Startled, Ryoko opened her eyes to see Souta leading her away. He had a serious look on his face.

"I told you not to worry about it. I'm here to help so don't think you only have your demon abilities to rely on."

Ryoko didn't say anything but just let Souta lead on. If she had to rely on a human, she decided she might not mind if it was him.

It was late before they got back to the shrine. They had to explain themselves to a very worried mother, but Mrs. Higurashi forgave them when she noticed the change in attitude between them. She ushered them inside and told them to wash up for dinner.

* * *

_The reason Ryoko couldn't read the Cheerios was because it's a mash up of different Kanji and those can be read multiple ways for most of them._


End file.
